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Brock’s calls had beckoned me to a pocket in the fog where I could see everything clearly but my own feet. A few steps before was my dearly departed friend sipping down an exotic drink in a bubbling hot tub next to his Croagunk, Sudowoodo and Happiny. All of them looked perfectly content. “What took you so long?” he asked.

I didn’t know what to answer. All I had were questions but before I could ask any, he chuckled and told me to relax. “First of all, no, Ash, you’re not dead. This is just one of those moments where you find the answers you need from heavy introsPection with the aid of a sPirit guide. I’m your Obi Wan Kenobi. Or your Mufasa, if you will.”

My head was sPinning. The hot tubbing sPirit guide was a bit much to take in all at once. I fell to my knees and apologized for not being able to save him.

“Dude, don’t apologize. It was my time. And frankly, I’m just pissed it wasn’t my time earlier. I get to kick it here, hot tubbing with Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny for eternity.” he explained. I was confused however as I saw neither of those women anywhere until both raised their heads out of the water to passionately kiss Brock for a moment and descend back below. How do they hold their breaths for so long, I asked.

“We’re dead, Ash. We don’t breath. Listen. Find Mewtwo. That’s your quest right there. It’ll know what to do. ” And how to find it? “That should be really obvious, Ash.” What was that supposed to mean? “Just think about it.”

That vague bit of advice was the last thing I heard from my newfound sPirit guide before suddenly coming to in the abhorrent stench of Rayquaza’s mangled viscera. Pikachu’s paws tapped at my face, trying to awaken me. My opening eyes and groans of anguish assured it I was up. I took a minute to collect my senses. It eventually dawned on me that Rayquaza’s body was stationary and doubtfully under water.

Reaching around, I grabbed the stake, still intact, and stabbed away at the lining of it’s resPiratory tube and eventually it’s hide. Puncturing a hole large enough to peak through, I looked out to see our surroundings. Below us was a cityscape dotted with fires and crumbling buildings. Rayquaza, dead beyond succor, dangled off a skyscraper and slowly gave to the pull of gravity. My movements caused it’s great swinging corpse, tail beneath me, to gradually lose what friction held its upper half to the broken walls it evidently crashed into.

Pikachu’s head poked out beneath my own. I held it still lest we budged Rayquaza anymore. Now was a time to hold still and think. We survived one crash, wrapped in the serpent’s viscera. Perhaps the only thing to do was go back inside, shake the corpse loose and brace ourselves for another crash. Had I another minute uninterrupted to consider it, that is no doubt the choice I would have made.

As it happened though, Pikachu called my attention to something happening out of my field of vision. To our far right, we saw Charizard flying over the cityscape, outmaneuvering a ravenous flock of Wingull, Starly, Mothim and other common flying Pokemon in their pursuit. In my excitement, I cried aloud “Charizard!”, realizing my mistake no sooner than I had finished. Yes, I got the attention of my fiery friend but I had also gained the interest of the hungry swarm in their wake!

Zombie Pokemon, as I have come to understand are more straightforward in their attacks than their strategically-minded, living counterparts. Had the flock sPlit up and coordinated their attacks better, I’ve no doubt that Charizard’s evasive skills would last little more than a minute against their superior numbers. As it was, however, these bird and bug Pokemon tailing it always followed my friend directly or made a b-line to its most recent position. Also, their reaction time was shot. Often, they would crash into any structure Charizard swerved closely around or fell victim to occasional surprise Ember attacks which shot massive, flaming bullets from its tail. This did little to diminish their numbers, however, as their seemed to be an unlimited supply of flying Pokemon in the distance drawn to the chase.

As it happened, Charizard was flying away from our position when I called out, placing the horde fiendish flyers between us and thus closer to me. They held their position, hovering in the air momentarily before sPlitting up; around half flew over to me while others continued after Charizard. What Charizard would do next, I could not know for Pikachu and I frantically pulled back into Rayquaza’s windpipe.

Inside we could hear and feel the impact of the flock’s attack on the swaying body of our horrific shelter. We looked up to see beaks tear and peck at our makeshift window. Finally we felt the overwhelming warmth of Charizard’s flamethrower engulfing Rayquaza from outside and incinerating the squawking zombies so desPerate to taste our flesh. That tight windpipe seemed to light up from the soft glow coming from outside. Finally, we felt the body lose it’s drag overhead and plunge towards Earth.

Pikachu and I braced ourselves for the coming impact but it would not claim us. Charizard’s claws ran down the opening I made and slashed an exit for us. I was surprised to see Dawn with Piplup, reaching her hand out to mine, pulling Pikachu and myself onto our friend’s winged back. The five of us flew off parallel to the street below because ascending directly would have placed us in the path of the zombie flyers above.

I looked back to see Rayquaza crash onto a crowd of hungry Pokemon zombies who gathered below to watch the sPectacle. We flew low, only about 30 feet above the street and all around us was pure bedlam. Flipped cars littered the streets, water gushed out where fire hydrants used to stand, shattered glass and crumbling walls rained down from the buildings above. There were structure fires, mounds of rubble where buildings used to stand and craters swallowing anything that fell in. And everywhere, there were zombie Pokemon scrounging about for food.

Charizard, fueled by adrenaline, whizzed past them fast enough for most to not even notice until we swung around the corner of every adjacent block. It was then that I realized I hadn’t issued a single command to do so. My Charizard was a brilliant tactician all its own and I couldn’t be prouder. But again Pikachu had called to my attention a predicament I was unaware of; Even at our sPeed, behind us not only flew the zombie Pokemon we expected but a slew of runners and jumpers who were made aware of us by their airborne chase.

At the forefront, I could see an infected Arcanine, Luxray, Hitmonlee and Blaziken. The latter two were leaping and bounding off the streets and sides of buildings, matching our sPeed every now and then but never quite catching us on account of our erratic paths. Even with the reduced sPeed characteric in zombies, their tenacity and naturally superior Pokemon sPeed made them impressive as they tailed us across the post-apocalyptic city grounds. Every so often, Arcanine or Luxray leapt up from below in an attempt to drag us down in their quivering jaws. Both were externally charred by their own flame or lightening expulsion from which their zombie forms provided little immunity. And of course there were the occasional bird and bug Pokemon who caught up and tried to divebomb us from above. Most missed, and the closest were deflected by Piplup’s Bubblebeam.

The flyers overhead prevented us from making any sharp climbs as that would have drastically reduced our sPeed. Eventually, we turned in to a particularly long and narrow avenue bordered by high rises which allowed the jumping Blaziken and Hitmonlee greater sPeed and proximity to us as well as a tighter shooting range for the Flamethrowers and Thunderbolts of Arcanine and Luxray. However, these seeming handicaps worked out to our advantage when their attacks met Blaziken and Hitmonlee in midair, stopping them for good. My replying sigh of relief was premature though. Ahead, standing atop the flipped cars were several Marowak making ready to launch their bones at us.

Wow, that sounds neat. I was just wondering, though... What about pokemon like Cressella, Ho-Oh, and Mew, who all have healing powers? If they can reverse zombification, you'll need to find a way around that - Or make it their one hope for saving the world, where the characters fail about five miles from their goal and get eaten by a zombie Giratina.

People admire and respect their superiors, are repulsed and disgusted by their inferiors, and connect to their equals.

The extreme highs and lows in life get a strong reaction - Yet it the averages in life that most people connect to.

The class system is nothing more then different groups of people grouping with their fellow equals and feeling the sense of separation from their superiors and inferiors.

I have read your story even when I wasn't a member of pokemon dream and a have one word for this story.

BRILLIANT!!!!!

I really loved the start of your story and when brock says to go on with out him and I was wondering could one of the chapters be about ash and dawn saving professor oak or dawns mum or saving a pokemon from being infected.

There was something haunting about the way those Marowak stood before us expecting our approach. That they were zombies was evidenced by their repulsive deformities which grew clearer the closer we got but unlike their undead kin, they didn’t mindlessly charge us. They seemed to retain some level of patience and strategy. I commanded Charizard to sPray them down with a Flamethrower attack but my flying steed was exhausted; flames barely escaped its lips!

Finally the moment came when we were no more than fifty feet ahead of those Marowak and approaching quickly with a veritable zombie stampede at our heels. They themselves decayed however their Bonemerangs were still somewhat polished looking and aerodynamic as was confirmed by their next action. With swift motions, they hurled those instruments of bony devastation at Charizard and ourselves. Charizard would well have been within its right to crash into them and put a fine end to this ongoing nightmare but that would be underestimative of its prowess.

Shifting all of our weight in what I hoped was a calculated maneuver, Charizard sPun 360 degrees without losing sPeed or direction and dodged nearly all the Bonemerangs. Sadly, one managed to knock poor little Piplup out of Dawn’s arms. Dawn screamed in desPair as we flew past the Marowak pack for her dear little Pokemon who had fallen into ravenous stampede. Those who had not paused to rend and devour Piplup ran and flew passed the Marowak who remained for whatever reason atop their perches watching us pass.

As I looked back, I noticed them turn their head in the direction which they flung their Bonmerangs. What’s more, I watched their flying instruments of battle impale them in the chest cavities and eye sockets upon return. So much for patience and strategy.

Still upset by the loss of Piplup, Dawn grabbed my lapel and wept into it. In all likelihood we would soon join it. Poor Charizard was struggling to keep us sPeedily aloft. The tireless zombie flyers came closer every second and the stampede wasn’t too far behind either. Our steed was to exhausted to hold them back with any fire attacks. Pikachu might have had some juice to sPare but an electric attack was risky while we were all so close together in the air. We needed two things: Shelter and a distraction.

True, we were surrounded by buildings but we had no way of knowing which ones were empty and which contained more zombie Pokemon. That risk alone might have been worth it but without some way to distract our chasers, all that would achieve was a means to corner ourselves.

With all that was going on, none of us took notice at first of little increments to the already chaotic landscape. More buildings were collapsing, more sinkholes were opening and larger cracks were racing along the pavement. One suddenly appeared on the street below and in no time swallowed up the ever amassing throng of the always hungry running behind us. But this was only the beginning.

The remnant of a street we flew over continued depressing while the several story buildings on either side began to lean precariously into it and with their structures already compromised by the ongoing turmoil, the rubble rained more heavily and repeatedly than before. Charizard dodged all but a few smaller chunks while the flyers behind us were stadily stuck and buried. The next blocks we reached had even taller buildings. Ahead of us, two such skyscrapers composed predominantly of steel and glass, formerly standing across the street from one another were just about ready to tilt and crash over the rift in between.

Already heavy shards of glass were raining from the giants into their soon to be resting place. There was a calculated risk involved in going this route. If our timing was just right, we might pull through at the precise moment that the buildings crashed and effectively buried our pursuers. This chance was however dwarfed by the far more likely possibility that we would be killed immediately in the most painful way imaginable.

I wish I could say the choice was mine but it was in fact Charizard’s. All the decisions made which kept us alive in this hellish landscape were Charizard’s. And so, putting my faith in its judgment, I turned my upper body back to hold down and cover Dawn and Pikachu. Charizard, in an effort to minimize the likelihood of getting struck by a major shard, turned sideways in concordance with the collision now overhead.

My eyes were closed and my face was buried in Dawn’s back. It felt like rain at first. Cold sPecks of glass bouncing off of us. A second later I noticed that not all the pieces bounced off and I realized I would have to dig out the ones that embedded themselves into my exposed arms and neck. Finally, before it stopped, I realized that what felt like warm water occasionally sPrinkling us was in fact loose blood.

When the rain stopped, I opened my eyes and looked back. The buildings, now joined at the neck plunged into the ever growing fissure below. The scene had mostly been blurred out the inevitable cloud of dust covering the ground but from the looks of it, our mad plan had worked. Our airborne followers were nowhere to be seen. I doubt they were all destroyed but surely now we would lose any that might have gotten lost in the confusion.

Charizard made a sharp left turn through a large broken window and took us inside a large bank that appeared to be empty. A snap decision in all likelihood but an effective one. Little light shown though the now dust covered windows and skylight; A few of the former had been broken as had a small portion of the latter. We landed in the midst of a small maze of the cubicles where accounts were opened. It was really as good a place as any.

Charizard collapsed upon landing and commenced catching its breath while Dawn and I slid off that pulsing back. It was dark but as my eyes adjusted I saw that Dawn had shard of glass the size of my thumb lodged in her shoulder. Miraculously, that was the worst injury any of us sustained from our previous gambit. I had a few the size of fingernails in my skin. Charizard had several larger ones but they barely penetrated its protective, scaly hide. Pikachu was unscathed but just as exhausted as the rest of us.

We were all covered in dust and blood, some dried, some trickling. The first course of action, I determined, was to find water to wash our wounds. EsPecially Dawn’s. I knew that the plumbing obviously wouldn't work so I didn't even check the bathroom. Instead I searched for, and found the water cooler. The jug was only half full so that made it relatively easy to flip off the stand and carry back. There were sure to be others in a janitor's closet or office kitchen and I would find those if this didn't suffice.

The ground was constantly vibrating to some degree which seemed odd on account of how long this Earthquake had gone on. It must have been caused Pokemon of some kind. Whether living or zombified, I didn't know but the latter seemed more likely. From what I had seen, some Pokemon retained their abilities into the undead stage while others lost theirs. So it might have been possible for a few to still use Earthquake. Why, though had this one gone on for so long I could not fathom.

Silently, I walked back to the cubicles and my three friends keeping wary should any hungry zombies pop up. None did, but I imagined the last few days this bank had seen. Looters, robbers and lines of desPerate people trying to collect their life savings before skipping town. The vault door was still open. Possibly left that way in a last minute free for all by people desPerate for cash.

Pikachu slept while Charizard picked out glass chunks with its claws and licked itself clean, having a natural aversion to the water which I used on Dawn and myself. After washing off most of the dust, we commenced with the more painful activity of extracting sharp pieces of glass from our skin careful not to make any noise. Saving the huge chunk in Dawn's shoulder for last, I ripped up my t-shirt and fashioned a bandage to stop the bleeding.

Upon cleaning that up, we realized the tremors had stopped. With Charizard about ready to fall asleep, I suggested we all move into the vault and close it up from the inside. It seemed like the safest place to be was in fact a giant safe.

Dawn was the first to notice dried blood and hand prints smeared on the walls. Whether this was caused by zombie attacks or typical human hysteria, we could not be sure but latter seemed more likely since the vault was as empty as a tomb.

Charizard's flickering tail flame provided enough light to keep the Stygian darkness at bay. We shut ourselves in and fell fast asleep. It seemed I never could tell how long I fell asleep for anymore but I awoke refreshed to a succession distant booming sounds. At every repetition they grew faintly louder and I could feel slight impact tremors on the floor.

Gracias. And it's not Digletts & Dugtrio but that would be awesome. I'm not terribly familiar with bank vaults myself so in this version, yes, there is a way to get out from inside and theoretically, they could have Charizard melt through the door. But hey, what safer place is there than, well, a safe?